U.S. Pat. No. 4,450,196, issued May 22, 1984 to Kamat discloses a composite fusible interlining fabric formed from a layer of nonwoven fabric, a layer of fibrous material positioned against one side of the nonwoven fabric, stitch yarn knit through the two layers to secure the layers together, and a coating of thermoactive adhesive material on the side of the nonwoven layer not in contact with the layer of fibrous material. The patent discloses that the layer of nonwoven fabric provides a smooth surface for the coating of the adhesive and acts as an effective barrier to prevent so-called strike back of the adhesive when the composite interlining fabric is fused to the base or garment fabric.
The composite interlining fabric made in accordance with the teachings of U.S. Pat. No. 4,450,196 suffers from several disadvantages in specific contexts. For example, when the interlining is fused to relatively thin, lightweight, tightly woven garment fabrics such as poplin, seersucker and pinfeather, the garment fabrics have a tendency to pucker when the fused fabric is rolled about an axis defined by the stitch loop chains formed by the stitch yarn. In addition, in some applications, particularly those in which the interlining fabric is fused to relatively soft fabrics such as wool and polyester/wool of the type used to make suits, skirts and similar items of clothing, the fused fabric has an insufficient amount of resilience. Typical examples include the front piece and inner chest piece of suit jackets. Accordingly, there is a need in the art for a composite interlining fragment which can be thermally fused to (1) thin, tightly woven garment fabrics such as poplin, seersucker and the like to produce a fused fabric which is immune from puckering when rolled, and (2) soft, pliable fabrics to impart a high degree of resilience to the fused fabric.